The present invention relates to a feeding pan for automatic feed dispensers for poultry in general.
It is known that factory farms for poultry such as chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl and the like currently use automatic feed dispensers which generally have tubes for supplying the feed in a spiral path; pans hang from such tubes and are provided with means for adjusting the level of the feed delivered to the pans.
According to the techniques currently in use, during the first period of growth, when the birds are still chicks, the feeding pans must be placed on the ground and the level of the feed must be kept relatively high in order to allow the chicks to eat.
As the chicks grow, the feeding pan is raised and spaced from the ground; at the same time, the level of the feed is generally lowered in order to avoid waste caused by the fact that the chicken or the like inevitably tends to scatter the feed outwards.
In the current situation, it is necessary to resort to manual intervention in order to position the level adjustment means, with the consequent problems caused by this need.
The need to manually adjust the various levels in fact requires a considerable use of labor, with corresponding costs.
The aim of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks noted above, by providing a feeding pan for automatic feed dispensers for poultry in general which allows to achieve a substantially automatic adjustment of the level of the feed in the pan, with adaptation to the different stages of the growth of the poultry.
Within the scope of this aim, an object of the invention is to provide a feeding pan which can be used with conventional supply tubes without having to resort to particular modifications.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a feeding pan which, by virtue of its particular constructive characteristics, is capable of giving the greatest assurances of reliability and safety in use.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a feeding pan which can be easily obtained starting from commonly commercially available elements and materials and is furthermore competitive from a purely economical point of view.
These and other objects which will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by a feeding pan for automatic feed dispensers for poultry in general, according to the invention, which comprises a tray-shaped body connected to a supply duct for supplying feed coupled to a supply tube, said supply duct ending with openings for delivery into said tray-shaped body which can be controlled by a rack arranged at preselectable heights, characterized in that it comprises means for lifting said rack which can be actuated by the resting of said tray-shaped body on the ground.